Liquid dispensing container/cap assemblies for dispensing liquids are known. For example, nasal rinsing and/or other body cavity irrigation assemblies and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,669,059 and 6,520,384. In these assemblies the cap may have a cylindrical lower portion, a rounded convex upper portion curving away from an axially aligned opening located in the uppermost surface of the upper portion, an open lower end, and a tubular conduit connected to the uppermost interior surface of the upper portion and having a hollow center axially aligned with the opening located in the upper portion. The container of these assemblies may have flexible sidewalls and an axially aligned neck configured to connect to the cap with a liquid tight connection. The conduit of the cap can extend into the container when the cap and container are joined together, or a flexible tube can be connected to the conduit, which flexible tube extends into the container.
The assemblies disclosed in the '059 and '384 patents may be used in the following manner. The user bends forward to a comfortable level, tilting the head slightly down and applies the cap snugly against the left nostril with the cap upper opening directed into the left nasal passage. The container may be squeezed to force liquid to enter the left nasal passage. The process is repeated applying the cap snugly against the right nostril. The liquid that was injected into the nasal passages will drain from the nasal passages or the mouth. The user then gently blows the nose. Any unused portion of the liquid may be discarded and the dispenser assembly should be cleaned. Thus, the assemblies disclosed in the '059 and '384 patents require the user or an assistant to squeeze the container to force liquid up into the nasal cavity as opposed to using gravity to drain the liquid out of the container.
The assemblies disclosed in the '059 and '384 patents are not effective for gravity feed of liquid to a user's nasal or other body cavity for at least two primary reasons. First, the conduit through which liquid flows out of the cap in these known assemblies is co-axial with the longitudinal axis of the liquid container. As a result, the degree to which the user would comfortably tilt her head to present her sinuses in the desired orientation to receive liquid for nasal rinsing, for example, would not permit the container to be optimally oriented to dispense liquid under the force of gravity. Accordingly, there is a need for a cap which permits the user's head to be tilted to the desired degree for nasal irrigation which also results in the liquid container being positioned in a preferred, substantially vertical, orientation for liquid dispensing under the force of gravity.
Second, the assemblies disclosed in the '059 and '384 patents do not include a cap which vents air into a container in a manner that would permit effective gravity feed of liquid to a user's nasal cavity from the container. In order for liquid to flow out of a fixed volume space (i.e., a container which is not squeezed) under the force of gravity, air must flow into the space to displace the liquid. The assemblies disclosed in the '059 and '384 patents do not permit such venting since there is only one opening in the cap through which liquid must flow out, and air must flow in. Indeed, the ability to vent air into a liquid container in a controlled, or even uncontrolled, manner when dispensing liquid under the influence of gravity is advantageous for all liquid dispensing activities, not just those associated with body cavity rinsing. Accordingly, there is a need for a cap which permits liquid to flow out and air to flow in to a liquid container simultaneously to allow effective dispensing of a liquid using gravity.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for apparatus and methods for dispensing a liquid to a nasal cavity in particular, but not limited to such use, which is simple to use, effective, and relatively inexpensive.